Diet and Foraging

There is little information on the diet of Least Nighthawk. The crop of a specimen from Venezuela contained "tiny insects" (Friedmann and Smith 1950). Schubart et al. (1965) reported on the stomach contents of eight specimens from Brazil. All eight stomachs contained beetles (Coleoptera), including representatives of Aphodiidae, Bruchidae, Byrrhidae, Carabidae, Chrysomelidae, Curculionidae, Elateridae, Eumolpidae, Hydrophilidae, Platypodidae, and Staphylinidae. Present in six stomachs were Hemiptera (Coreidae, Coriscidae, Lygaeidae, Pentatomidae, Pyrrhocoridae, and Reduviidae) and Hymenoptera (Formicidae). Other insects included in these stomachs were Dermaptera (Forficulidae), Diptera, and Homoptera (Cicadellidae).